1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medicinal composition useful for the treatment of diabetes in a human patient, and a method of treating a human patient for diabetes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that diabetes is a very serious, chronic, medical condition that develops in a significant number of human beings. The onset of diabetes can occur in a human being at an early age, although many times a person will not develop a diabetic condition until much later in life. In any event, the condition of diabetes is quite debilitating unless treated, and often leads to complications in other medical conditions that a patient may have. Diabetes often advances the onset of medical conditions and ailments associated with aging and very often leads to complications in treating such conditions.
The medical condition of diabetes is characterized by the inability of the pancreas gland to secrete insulin. Insulin is important to the human system because it enters the blood stream and helps the body burn sugar in the cells of the body in order to provide energy. In a diabetic patient sugar is not properly metabolized to produce energy. As a result, diabetic patients experience an elevated level of sugar in the blood.
The pancreas gland in the normal human system has a sufficient number of cells called beta cells that produce an adequate amount of insulin in the human body to properly metabolize sugar in a person's system. In a person who has developed diabetes, however, the pancreas deteriorates and the beta cells in the pancreas are too small and insufficiently numerous to produce a proper amount of insulin. As a consequence, the conventional treatment of diabetes involves the administration of insulin to a patient, typically by means of injections. These injections must be performed on a very regular basis and are normally administered using a hypodermic needle. This is inconvenient to a patient, since the administration of insulin using a hypodermic needle requires both a suitable place and time to perform the injection. Also, if the amount of insulin injection is excessive for the amount of sugar in the blood, the patient can undergo insulin shock. This condition is not only frightening to other persons in the vicinity, but is also quite dangerous for the patient.
Furthermore, the administration of insulin never really cures diabetes. To the contrary, a person suffering from diabetes must continue taking insulin injections for life. Moreover, it is well documented that diabetes tends to shorten a person's life span.